Outdoor exercise statistics show how common walking was among U.S. adults in 2022 and what research reviews found about outdoor settings, structured activity and greenspace. The measures below separate leisure walking, transportation walking, controlled comparisons and observational associations.
Key Outdoor Exercise Statistics
These figures summarize the main participation, comparison and health findings:
- In 2022, 58.7% of U.S. adults walked for leisure during the previous 7 days.
- In 2022, 16.2% of U.S. adults walked for transportation during the previous 7 days.
- In 2022, 61.8% of U.S. adults ages 18–44 walked for leisure.
- In 2022, 51.6% of U.S. adults age 65 and older walked for leisure.
- In 2022, women reported leisure walking at 60.5%, compared with 56.9% for men in the United States.
- In 2022, 20.9% of U.S. adults ages 18–44 walked for transportation.
- In 2022, 10.3% of U.S. adults age 65 and older walked for transportation.
- In 2022, 5.6% of U.S. adults reported transportation insecurity in the NHIS analysis.
- In 2022, 30.9% of adults with transportation insecurity walked for transportation, compared with 15.3% without it.
- In controlled acute-exercise studies published before March 2021, outdoor exercise had a pooled enjoyment effect of Hedges g=1.24 versus indoor exercise.
- In longitudinal trials through March 2021, 25 of 99 outdoor-versus-indoor outcome comparisons were statistically significant.
- In clinical structured-outdoor-activity evidence through March 2023, the health-related quality-of-life effect was SMD=0.45 across 10 analyses.
- In nature-based exercise evidence through 2020, perceived exhaustion was lower with nature-based exercise, p=0.001.
- In randomized trials through September 2020, the pooled depressive-mood effect of nature-based interventions was -0.64.
- In greenspace studies through January 2017, the pooled all-cause mortality association estimate was 0.69.
- In greenspace studies through January 2017, the pooled type 2 diabetes association estimate was 0.72.
Contents
- Key Outdoor Exercise Statistics
- Outdoor Exercise Statistics: U.S. Leisure Walking
- Outdoor Exercise Data by Age, Sex, Race and Income
- Transportation Walking and Everyday Outdoor Activity
- Outdoor Exercise Participation, Parks and Access
- Outdoor Versus Indoor Exercise: Enjoyment and Performance
- Outdoor Exercise Health Outcomes from Green and Nature-Based Activity
Outdoor Exercise Statistics: U.S. Leisure Walking
The 2022 National Health Interview Survey measured walking during the previous 7 days among U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized adults. Leisure walking included fun, relaxation, exercise or walking the dog, so it was broader than formal workouts.
- 58.7% of U.S. adults walked for leisure.
- Leisure walking was 61.8% among adults ages 18–44, 59.1% among adults ages 45–64 and 51.6% among adults age 65 and older.
- Women reported leisure walking at 60.5%, compared with 56.9% for men.
Source: Walking for Leisure and Transportation Among Adults: United States, 2022.
These are self-reported past-7-day estimates, not annual participation rates or measures of exercise intensity.
Outdoor Exercise Data by Age, Sex, Race and Income
The CDC/NCHS analysis reported leisure walking across survey-defined race, income and education groups. The figures describe reported walking, not access to a particular park, trail or exercise facility.
| U.S. adult group | Leisure walking in previous 7 days, 2022 |
|---|---|
| Asian, non-Hispanic | 63.8% |
| White, non-Hispanic | 61.5% |
| Other or multiple races, non-Hispanic | 57.5% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native, non-Hispanic | 55.9% |
| Hispanic | 53.5% |
| Black, non-Hispanic | 49.2% |
Source: Walking for Leisure and Transportation Among Adults: United States, 2022.
Leisure walking was 66.6% below 100% of the federal poverty level, 59.1% at 100%–199%, 55.6% at 200%–399% and 59.6% at 400% or higher. The poverty-level groups use prior-year income and family size.
Education estimates were 50.7% without a high-school diploma or GED, 55.7% among high-school graduates, 58.5% with some college and 66.5% with a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Transportation Walking and Everyday Outdoor Activity
Transportation walking means walking to work, running errands or traveling from place to place, separate from leisure walking. In the 2022 United States NHIS, 16.2% of adults reported it during the previous 7 days.
| U.S. adult group | Transportation walking, 2022 |
|---|---|
| Ages 18–44 | 20.9% |
| Ages 45–64 | 13.4% |
| Age 65+ | 10.3% |
| Men | 17.3% |
| Women | 15.0% |
Source: Walking for Leisure and Transportation Among Adults: United States, 2022.
By income, transportation walking was 24.1% below 100% of the federal poverty level, 16.6% at 100%–199%, 12.6% at 200%–399% and 16.7% at 400% or higher. By education, it was 16.6% without a high-school diploma or GED, 13.2% among high-school graduates, 14.7% with some college and 19.7% with a bachelor’s degree or higher.
A separate 2022 NHIS analysis found that 5.6% of U.S. adults had transportation insecurity under that study’s survey-defined measure. Transportation walking was 30.9% among adults with transportation insecurity versus 15.3% among those without it, an observational comparison that does not establish causation.
The same study estimated transportation walking at 16.1% in its analytic sample, ranging from 27.7% among adults ages 18–24 to 10.4% among adults age 65 and older; nonmetropolitan residents had a rate of 9.7%.
Outdoor Exercise Participation, Parks and Access
The review literature does not provide one population-wide parks-access rate in this dataset, but it does describe controlled outdoor-versus-indoor evidence. The acute-exercise review’s enjoyment meta-analysis included 10 comparisons and 234 participants, with a pooled outdoor enjoyment effect of Hedges g=1.24 (95% CI 0.59–1.89, p<0.001).
Source: Acute effects of outdoor versus indoor exercise: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
The longitudinal review included 10 trials and 343 participants. Across 99 outcome comparisons, 25 were statistically significant, and all 25 favored outdoor exercise, although overall risk of bias was high and effects were heterogeneous.
The structured-outdoor-activity review included 1,759 participants with somatic or mental diseases. Its evidence certainty was very low, and comparisons could involve no intervention, usual care, indoor activity or outdoor non-exercise.
Outdoor Versus Indoor Exercise: Enjoyment and Performance
The nature-based exercise performance review located 49 relevant studies and used outcome data from 24 studies in meta-analyses. It found no significant overall environmental effect on task-performance efficacy (p=0.100), while cognitive-performance outcomes were marginally positive (p=0.059).
| Outcome | Reported result |
|---|---|
| Perceived exhaustion | Lower, p=0.001 |
| Vigor | Higher, p=0.017 |
| Positive affect | Higher, p<0.001 |
| Perceived stress | Higher for indoor exercise, p=0.032 |
Source: Nature-based activities for mental and physical health: Systematic review and meta-analysis.
These results concern outcome scales in experimental studies, not a universal performance advantage. The review reported high bias and between-study heterogeneity.
Outdoor Exercise Health Outcomes from Green and Nature-Based Activity
The structured-outdoor-activity review found a small health-related quality-of-life effect of SMD=0.45 (95% CI 0.19–0.71) across 10 analyses and a small physical-function effect of SMD=0.39 (95% CI 0.13–0.64) across 14 analyses. Its mental-outcome effect was SMD=-0.52 (95% CI -0.82 to -0.23) across 13 analyses, favoring outdoor activity; the negative direction reflects the outcome scales.
The nature-based-intervention review included 50 studies: 16 randomized controlled trials, 18 controlled studies and 16 uncontrolled before-after studies. RCT pooled effects included depressive mood of -0.64 (95% CI -1.05 to -0.23), anxiety of -0.94 (95% CI -0.94 to -0.01), positive affect of 0.95 (95% CI 0.59–1.31) and negative affect of -0.52 (95% CI -0.77 to -0.26).
The most effective interventions generally lasted 8–12 weeks, and the review identified an optimal intervention dose range of 20–90 minutes. These are review-level patterns, not universally established dose-response thresholds.
Source: Nature-based activities for mental and physical health: Systematic review and meta-analysis.
Greater greenspace exposure was associated with salivary cortisol at -0.05 (95% CI -0.07 to -0.04), heart rate at -2.57 (95% CI -4.30 to -0.83), diastolic blood pressure at -1.97 (95% CI -3.45 to -0.19) and high-frequency heart-rate variability at 91.87 (95% CI 50.92–132.82).
The same review reported pooled associations of 0.72 for type 2 diabetes risk (95% CI 0.61–0.85), 0.69 for all-cause mortality (95% CI 0.55–0.87), 0.84 for cardiovascular mortality (95% CI 0.76–0.93) and 1.12 for incidence of good self-reported health (95% CI 1.05–1.19).
These greenspace findings are primarily observational associations across heterogeneous exposure and outcome measures, not proof that outdoor exercise caused the changes. The clinical and nature-based reviews likewise studied structured interventions or selected populations rather than all recreational outdoor exercise.